Burglaries Hit Pikesville Area

January 2, 2014 By Marc Shapiro

Residents of the Upper Park Heights area straddling Baltimore City and County have experienced several burglaries, an attempted break-in and a robbery, according to Shomrim of Baltimore and local police.

Baltimore County police said there were two daytime burglaries in the Ranchleigh community between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20. Shomrim, meanwhile, reported several thefts over a period of two days.

“It’s not unusual for crime to go up between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Ronnie Rosenbluth, Shomrim’s vice president. “What’s worrisome is that these types of crimes, particularly people attempting to break into homes, have been increasing.”

The Baltimore County burglaries reportedly took place in Gerard Court and the 2300 block of Farringdon Road.

Any time county police receive reports of related crimes, patrols are increased, said police spokeswoman Cathleen Batton. There have neen no additional burglaries in the area since the first two, she said. The Northwest Citizens Patrol announced that officials of both police departments said at a Dec. 26 meeting with community representatives that they had issued a “crime trend alert.”

Synagogues throughout the area alerted congregants by email three days earlier to the spate of robberies, urging people to lock their doors, be alert and notify officials of anything suspicious.

On the city side, two incidents on Dec. 16 — in the 2800 block of Cheswolde Road and the 6200 block of Winner Avenue — resulted in the reported theft of jewelry and two laptops and a broken window while a woman was home, according to Shomrim. The day before, two men allegedly took packages and a wallet from a parked car in the 6400 block of Green Meadow Parkway while the car’s owner unpacked his belongings. Two suspects reportedly left two bicycles behind as they fled.

Baltimore City police could not be reached for comment.

Baltimore County police offered free home security surveys and asked residents to report suspicious activity by calling 410-887-2222. Shomrim urged residents to email Baltimore City Councilwoman Rikki Spector at rikki.spector@baltimorecity.gov and to copy crimereports@shomrim.net if they have been victims of any crime since Aug. 1. The effort, according to the organization’s Facebook page, is to ensure crime is properly reported.